The First Five Times
by asschele
Summary: Beca can't stop thinking about Chloe. She's pretty sure she's falling. Beca/Chloe, femslash
1. The First Time

**A/N: This was initially an idea I had for a Faberry story, but I could never seem to get it to work for those two, and when I saw Pitch Perfect I just thought that the idea was perfect for these two. So, give it a read, tell me what you think. I'm aiming for 5-6 chapters in total, but will probably write more, so we'll see how we go.**

**Warnings: Femslash – if you don't like it don't read it.**

**Some smut at the end of the chapter. **

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Barden had never been Beca's idea. It was, at its purest, her father's last attempt to cling to her before she entered the ominously dubbed "real world". She couldn't, in essence, fault him for that. But she could for his blatant disregard for what she wanted, especially given their, shall we say... "tumultuous" past. They had never really "gelled", in the familial sense. Beca viewed him as a restriction to her freedom, and the reason her mother's mental health never recovered – he viewed her as the one thing that tied him to an unhappy, dysfunctional marriage for many years longer than it should have. But, despite their many jarring differences, Beca had agreed, for once, to try his way. And, to put it lightly, she hated it.

Her classes were dull, her roommate never spoke and seemed to unjustifiably resent her, Jesse "the intern at the station" Swanson followed her around like a moth to a flame, and to cap it all off, her father had now insisted she join one of the many nefarious groups this deadbeat place had to offer. Maybe it wasn't right for her to judge the place on face value, but her brief venture into the activities fair at the beginning of the semester had left her with an unpleasant taste of bile at the back of her mouth, and the lingering smell of dying dreams and failure in her nostrils. Better, instead to remain in solitude and work on her real passion, DJ-ing.

Beca couldn't pick the exact moment she knew she wanted to be a DJ. She could give a rough timeframe, but no exact moment could be traced back to. As a child, living in what she thought was a happy family; music had been something that brought them all together. Whether it was sitting around her mother's decrepit old record player listening to old jazz standards, dancing around the kitchen to pop hits on the radio, or (she'd never admit it know) watching old musicals on the TV, music was something that all the Mitchell family loved. As her family gradually fell apart, the power of music was truly instilled in her being. Her father lost his love of music, its reminders of the family he once had were too bitter. Her mother never really recovered from the heartbreak of having her husband leave her. She slipped into mental illness like falling asleep – slowly, and then all at once. But still, the music never left her.

Beca's last memory of her mother before she passed away was of holding her hand in the hospital bed, looking out the window at the setting sun, listening to an old Frank Sinatra record. Beca wasn't old enough to truly understand what was wrong with her mother, and the doctors just told her that she died of a broken heart. It was that thought that was with her hours later when her father came to pick her up from the hospital, offering words of condolence but never going to see her mother. She kicked, screamed and shouted all the way from the hospital to her new home, where she fell into a fitful sleep. She couldn't understand why bad things happened to good people. From the minute she woke up, she had changed. She was guarded, resentful and sarcastic, the exact opposite of her former self. She listened to music every day, at first to remind her of her mother, and later to forget everything else. She coped in high school, but never made many friends, choosing solitude and her music over the company of others. She supposed it was this that compelled her father to send her to college – to "experience" life. And, alas, that "experience" was turning out to be more difficult than she had anticipated.

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It was gone midnight when Beca finally leant back from the screen rubbing her eyes and the notes of her latest mix ringing in her ears. She knew it was bad for her to stay up late mixing, especially when she had a morning class the next day, but when inspiration strikes... And she didn't feel too bad, since Kimmy Jin was also still absent from their room, probably off with her friends from the "Korean students community". She didn't really understand how something like a shared nationality meant that people will immediately become best friends, but, to each their own, she guessed.

Feeling sweaty and disgusting (and having absolutely no desire to sleep like this), she decided to head down to the showers to freshen up. Trying to her best to a)move quietly through the dorm so as not to wake those who were smart enough to sleep and b)ignore the sounds drifting through the walls that indicated that many people were NOT sleeping, she trudged down many flights of stairs to the communal bathrooms, where a long-anticipated shower awaited her.

The beats of her latest mix rang through her head on repeat, searching desperately for some way out. Absent-mindedly she began humming the notes to David Guetta's "Titanium" under her breath. The DJ in her was in equal parts awestruck and envious of this song – long desiring the chance to work with both Sia and Guetta himself. The lyrics to the song finally made their way out of her, and into what she believed was an abandoned (because who in their right mind actually showers at this time of the morning?) shower block.

"_You shout it out, but I can't hear a word you say... I'm talking loud, not saying much..."_ Beca sang to herself quietly as she hung her shower bag on the hook and took off her gown.

"_I'm criticized, but all your bullets ricochet... You shoot me down, but I get up..."_ It was fitting, really, that this should be one of her favourite songs, considering how well it described her relationship with her father. _I am titanium, _she often found herself thinking during one of his many "DJ-ing is not a profession" rants. It was as though this song had worked itself into who she was. Raising her voice, she turned the shower on, feeling the first refreshing jets of water hit her skin.

"_I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose. Fire away, fire away... Ricochet, you take your aim. Fire away, fire away..."_

"You CAN sing!" Beca yelped loudly at the sudden interruption, attempting to turn and stumbling into the wall, shoulder jarring painfully.

"Dude!" Beca shouted, feeling herself becoming flustered by the intruder's complete, unashamed nudity. It was that red-headed girl from the activities fair during her first day at Barden. She'd seemed nice, but that first impression was now completely overridden by the image of her, _oh god, _NAKED body in front of her. It wasn't that Beca didn't like what she saw, but more that she didn't want to let the ginger girl know that. And having a virtual stranger burst into your shower was kinda creepy, not to mention off-putting. Beca could still feel her heart pounding against her ribs. The ginger, however, was not at all put off by the circumstance, pressing forward to turn the shower off as she spoke.

"How high does your belt go?" Lost in trying not to look at her body, Beca at first completely missed the question. Stumbling over her words, she spat out an answer.

"My what?! Oh my God!"

"You have to audition for the Bellas." Beca didn't know if the ginger girl even realised they were both naked. Her complete disregard for personal space seemed to indicate that, anyway. Beca was still pointedly not looking at the other girl's body.

"I can't concentrate on anything you're saying until you cover your junk." It was true; Beca was having trouble even remembering her name when faced with the ginger's perky breasts and washboard abs. Still, the red-head was not put off.

"Just, consider it." She seemed kinda desperate (Beca chose to think this in order to derail the train of thought that suggested that this was not the first time she'd unceremoniously interrupted another girl's shower). Leaning forward, she grabbed the shower curtain, pulling it over her body in an attempt to regain at least a little of her modesty. The red-head, again un-deterred, continued with her sales pitch to Beca.

"One time, we sang back-up for Prince. His butt is so tiny I can fit it in, like, one hand." Temporarily overwhelmed by the memory, she accidentally knocked the shampoo bottle out of Beca's hand. Letting go of the curtain to retrieve it, she pressed her body against the wall, trying in vain to cover up again. It was becoming too much.

"Seriously? I am NUDE." She emphasised the last word, attempting to channel her thoughts across to the ginger. _Please cover yourself. _Yet again, the red-head pushed forward, ignoring Beca's subliminal messaging.

"You were singing Titanium, right?" Beca was honestly shocked by the question – while admittedly she didn't listen to mainstream radio, she'd still assumed that most people didn't exactly have David Guetta high on their musical radar, not least a cappella singing red-heads with killer abs. _Don't go there, _she internally chastised herself. She hastily refocused her thoughts on the question at hand.

"You know David Guetta?" _Smooth, Beca, smooth._

"What, have I been living under a rock? That song is my jam... my lady jam." She winked at Beca, who turned away, feeling herself blush at the decidedly not-PG images that filled her head.

"That's nice." She said absently trying to remove the image of the red-head in... _that _position from her mind. _This is what teenage boys must feel like_, she thought_...all the time. _If the red-head was at all embarrassed about sharing information of such a... _personal _nature, she didn't show it.

"It is... that song really builds." She added suggestively. _Oh God, _Beca cursed as the images filled her mind again. She didn't even know if she could look the other girl in the eye anymore without being immediately brought back to this conversation.

"Gross." She muttered, turning her head away once more.

"Will you sing it for me?" The ginger asked, not seeming to understand the implications of what she'd said. _She's trying to have me killed._

"Dude, NO! Get out!" The red-head at last seemed to catch on, hastily back-tracking.

"Not for _that _reason. I'm not leaving here until you sing, so..." She stared Beca down, willing her to rise to the challenge. Reluctantly Beca turned back around, covering as much of her body as she could with the loofah in her hand. Trying to look anywhere but at the other girl, she began to sing.

"_I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose..." _Beca's gaze was drawn back to the ginger as she to began to sing, effortlessly melding their voices as she took the top harmony. _They sounded... flawless together, _she mused.

"_Fire away, fire away... Ricochet, you take your aim. Fire away, fire away." _The two girls stared each other down as they sang, not competing, but rather, connecting.

"_You shoot me down, but I won't fall, I am titanium. Shoot me down but I won't fall, I am titanium." _The red-head beamed at her as they finished, but Beca did not return it, awkwardly standing there after the pseudo-"moment" they had shared. Once again noticing the ginger's nakedness, she pointedly averted her eyes, and for the first time, the other girl seemed to realise their mutual nudity.

"Oh yeah, I'm... pretty confident about... all this." She gestured to her body. Beca's eyes, following the movement, were once again drawn down her body, and blushing, she looked away once more.

"You should be." She managed to choke out.

Now that they had been in each other's naked presence for several minutes, the ginger finally seemed to have the presence of mind to retrieve Beca's towel for her, which she wrapped quickly around herself. Not sure of what she should say, Beca allowed the two to fall into a semi-comfortable, semi-awkward silence.

"I was gonna... shower." She half-whispered into the silence, just as another figure turned the corner to enter the shower cubicle as well. The guy towered over them both, the kind of all-American stud she'd seen a lot of around the campus.

"You have a lovely voice." _Who is this guy?! _Beca vaguely noticed the ginger girl nodding to what the guy was saying. Unsurprisingly, she was not put off by his nakedness either.

"Thanks." Beca forced out. The ginger girl stood there smiling and looking between the two of the , before seeming to realise their location.

"Oh." She breathed, turning to leave, followed by the nameless guy.

"See you at auditions." She called over her shoulder. Beca incredulously watched them go, still coming to terms with what the last minutes had held. And she didn't even know either of their names.

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Thoughts of the nameless ginger girl invaded Beca's thoughts constantly for the next few days at Barden. When she slept, her dreams were filled with nameless, red-haired beauties. The dreams, both naughty and nice, left her aching when she woke up, and the looks Kimmy Jin gave her made her wonder if she spoke in her sleep. When she drifted off in class, her thoughts were overrun by wondering what the mysterious girl did, where she was, who she was, what she was like, on and on and on, until the lecture finished and she realised she had no idea what it was about. And when Jesse hit on her again and again, she couldn't help but compare him to the nameless girl, and what _she'd _be like at flirting. Then she'd wonder if Showergate (that was her nickname for the shower incident) _was _her attempt at flirting. Then she'd stop herself from developing that line of thought, and go back to trying to think of Jesse as someone she desired, over someone who was place filling for a girl whose name she didn't even know.

She seriously considered not showing up to the auditions for the Bellas. She didn't know if she could stand in front of that girl, and look into those startlingly blue eyes and not confess everything she's thought since Showergate. So when she shows up late, she tries not to let her heart race at the way the red-head lights up when she sees her, like she's been _waiting _for her. She fails.

She performs her song the whole way through without cracking, so she takes that as a positive sign of herself control. Also, she manages not to succumb to the all-powerful blue eyed gaze of her obsession, so that's Beca - 2, Satan – 0. She's honestly not surprised when she gets picked for the Bellas team (she's not being narcissistic, but what she'd heard from outside while running an internal debate hadn't exactly been stellar). She sees amongst the other new recruits the blonde Australian (who curiously is introduced as "Fat Amy") she met at the activities fair, and Lilly, a soft-spoken (too soft, really) Asian girl from her "Intro to Psychology" class (she did attend a couple times, yes). There's a bunch of other girls too, but no-one that she knows. And then there's the two from the stall. The high-strung blonde bitch, who introduces herself as Aubrey, and her infatuation, who she now knows as Chloe Beale. Chloe Beale. Chloe Beale. It felt good to say.

Aubrey and Chloe led them in a ridiculous pledge (the bit about the Trebles nearly made her laugh, because _hello, _the problem was right here in the Bellas.) and before she knew it, they were initiated Bellas, and they were being led down to a party for all the a cappella groups, where everyone seemed to already be drunk. She is lingering at the back, waiting for Jesse to return with her (hopefully strong) drink, when she sees quite a sight headed towards her – Chloe Beale, drunk off her face _already, _which is quite an achievement considering the short amount of time they've been here. The girl quickly makes a point of invading her personal space, pulling her so close that Beca's breath catches and she thinks they're actually going to kiss. She pulls back slightly, and Chloe speaks, carefully measuring her words before drunkenly forcing them out.

"I am _so _glad I met you... I think we're going to be really fast friends." Chloe doesn't relinquish hold of Beca's hands, even when Beca stands so as to increase the gap (and decrease the tantalising temptation) between them. Laughing awkwardly, she tries to shrug it off with a joke.

"Well, you saw me naked, so..." She winks, and Chloe giggles. Sad as it may sound, Beca honestly believes that Chloe's giggle is the cutest, most precious sound she's ever heard. Chloe runs her hands down her arms, and Beca fights the urge to shiver, feeling the excitement tremble beneath her skin.

"Right, well I'm going to go get a drink. This ginger needs her jiggle juice." She shakes her ass tantalisingly before walking away. Beca wonders if Chloe can feel her staring at her ass (in her defence, it was the only thing she hadn't seen so far) and sincerely hopes not.

Jesse, who has somehow become drunker since the last time she saw him, returns with her drink (it seems emptier than she expected, so she assumes that's why he's so far gone). He's cute when he's drunk, and she tries to focus on that, instead of the pain and jealousy she feels when she spots Chloe making out with some guy in the distance.

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Beca doesn't know why she agrees to the game of spin the bottle. But, she's drunk and she's upset (yes, she understands that Chloe is not her property and can't control what she does) and she wants to pretend that she has someone to love. So when they're sitting in a circle, giggling away and watching the bottle spin and spin, she decides she wouldn't mind kissing the cute guy that spun it. And when it lands on her she grins, kneels and pulls him towards her, pressing their lips together.

The kiss is sloppy, and wet, and not the least bit enjoyable, but all the same she smacks her lips and laughs, looking anywhere but at Chloe. The next guy she spins is much the same, and so is her reaction. The game continues and she's lost track of who she's kissed (except, notably, Cynthia-Rose, who, she notes, is excellent), until Chloe spins the bottle and it rotates slower and slower before landing on her.

She considers legging it, but knows that that would look more suspicious than simply continuing with the game. She feels everybody's eyes upon her as she kneels and leans forward, licking her lips nervously as Chloe Beale's face inches closer and closer towards her, before their lips finally meet. It isn't fireworks (she suspects her senses are too numbed by alcohol at this point to feel anything close to that sensation), but it's electric and the best she's felt in recent memory. She doesn't want to pull back, so instead of over-thinking, she just doesn't, allowing her mind and body to be taken over by the kiss. At some point she notices her fingers have tangled in the other girls hair, and vice versa, and it feels so... right.

She doesn't know how long she's been kissing Chloe for when the two are brought back to reality by an awkward cough by Fat Amy. Chloe's pupils are blown with lust, and before she reconnect their lips, she looks away, taking in the awestruck expressions on some of the guy's faces, and the confused on the girls'. The leader of the Trebles, Bumper, is the first to speak.

"Keep going!" Many of the guys murmur in agreement, and she considers it, before Fat Amy interrupts to tell them to "get a room, and let the rest of us keep playing". And when Chloe grabs her hand to drag her away from the group, to find somewhere private, she doesn't even resist.

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The door of Chloe's room slammed behind them as they burst through, powered by the alcohol and lust pumping through their veins. Beca slammed her mouth against Chloe's, her tongue entering the ginger's mouth as she grabbed and groped at any part of her that she could reach. There was nothing romantic about it, the two of them understood without a doubt that what they were about to do was have sex – not make love. Their tongues swirled together, the taste of Jesse's unknown mixed drinks passing back and forth between the two.

Chloe palmed Beca's breasts and she pushed her back against the wall, joined at the pelvis. It was rough, and pleasure rushed over heightened senses and through her body as she gave her body over to the other girl. Beca had her hands under Chloe's shirt, and then up her back, and before she even registered what she was doing, Chloe's torso was bare, shirt and bra both abandoned on the floor. Even while drunk beyond belief she still appreciated how beautiful Chloe's body was, and she told her so in a drunken slur while Chloe temporarily dis-attached their lips to attack Beca's neck. She moaned at the feeling, arching her back into the other girl. It almost scared how much she was feeling in this moment, even with the numbing effect of the alcohol and the crushing knowledge that this could never mean anything to Chloe. But she couldn't resist the temptation of trying everything the other girl had to offer, willingly allowing the other girl in turn to rip off first her shirt, then her jeans, and then be led backwards to the bed knees knocking out as they tumbled, engulfed in passion, onto the mattress. She flipped Chloe over – first she needed to give to this girl, to show her, without speaking, how much this really meant to her.

Chloe writhed beneath her at her touch, first her hands against smooth, flawless skin, exploring every inch of her body; then her mouth, clamping onto a nipple as her hands massaged the flesh of her breasts. Each moan spurred her on, each breathy mutter of her name mad her fall deeper. Dragging her lips south towards her centre, Beca felt Chloe's hands tangle in her hair as she guided her down, down, down. Beca dragged her tongue through Chloe's wet folds, then on to her clit; sucking and nibbling, as she brought her hand up and thrust two fingers into the other girl's pussy, more than content to feel the girl writhe and shake with pleasure as she came closer and closer and finally succumbed to orgasm, screaming Beca's name loud enough for the rest of the dorm to hear.

And as she let Chloe take her body in the same way, Beca allowed herself to be taken over by the wave of pleasure that snuck up on her and took her unawares.

And later that night, with Chloe still sprawled, asleep, on top of her, waves of ginger hair splayed across her chest, Beca at last allowed herself to let go, sobbing silently as the reality of everything crashed down upon her. Yes, she loved Chloe. Yes, she should never have let herself act on those feelings in such a definitive way. And no, Chloe would never feel the same.

And when morning came, and Chloe rose at last, Beca was already gone.


	2. The Next Time

A/N: No excuse for the lateness of this (well, plenty, but none good). Enjoy and review x

Also, for the song - **Beca, **_Chloe, __**BOTH**_

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Chloe had never been one for one-night stands. She believed the act was all about the intent, and the idea that someone's intent to her was temporary and meaningless hurt her more than she could possibly say. While she tried to see the best in people, she still understood that blind trust could get her hurt. However, that didn't make it hurt any less. On the contrary, the feeling of exposing herself in the most intimate way to a near stranger who didn't understand how much it meant, hurt even more. And for some inexplicable reason, when Beca left it hurt even more.

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"BECA! OPEN UP!"

Beca tiredly lifted her head to look at the door, before slumping back on the bed. She supposed that she should have expected this intrusion at some point; she had spent three days barricaded inside her room, living off of potato chips and mixing near constantly. And she couldn't even bring herself to be surprised at who her uninvited guest was. Jesse had been like a faithful, concerned puppy - texting her dozens of times to ask where she was and why she hadn't been to the station. If she'd responded to those texts perhaps he wouldn't be pestering her now, she thought wryly.

She closed her eyes and tried to block out the incessant banging and yelling, but it was no use. The noise permeated her brain with as much ease and disregard as the memories of why she now found herself in her situation.

She hadn't meant to sleep with Chloe. She honestly hadn't. It was unpremeditated, the rash spontaneity she possessed coming out to bite her in the ass. She didn't know why she had lost control so easily. Maybe it was the mix of alcohol and achievement that had been in the air that night, or the red-heads intoxicating perfume, her startlingly blue eyes, those legs, that ass…

Point was, she had tried not to sleep with Chloe. She knew she would only get hurt if she acted on her infatuation (she refused to refer to it as anything else), and she had proved herself right, more so than she had ever imagined. And now she had no choice but to avoid Chloe. Not that it was hard. The redhead herself had made no attempt to contact her, despite being in possession of Beca's phone number, dorm number and room, email and Facebook details (part of Aubrey's contact plan). And Beca couldn't blame her. The night had meant nothing to the ginger anyway and even if it had, waking up alone and abandoned wouldn't exactly warrant the warmest of feelings towards the perpetrator.

She hadn't been entirely alone for the last three days though. Kimmy Jin had made it perfectly clear her being perpetually around was for her (with no regard to Beca's emotional state), and her father had visited every day, increasingly frustrated, trying in vain to get her to go to class. It's not that she didn't want to go to class, per se, more that she didn't want to go _anywhere. _

It was strange to have even her father checking up on her. She had lived a mostly solitary existence for most of her life - the disruption of her parents divorce and her resulting anti-social behaviour had left her with few friends . Here at Barden, she already had more friends than she'd ever had in high school or earlier. Fat Amy, who had delivered her work for her over the past days, unjudging and unassuming, Cynthia-Rose who had sent her a number of mixed-message texts reminding her of upcoming Bella's rehearsals and Aubrey's suspected homicidal tendencies, and Jesse. Jesse.

Jesse who was like a love-struck teenager, following her around and doting on her, Jesse who was endearingly annoying, Jesse who was giving her a headache from the incessant noise outside her room. Sighing and standing, she walked slowly to the door.

"Alright, I'm coming!" Opening her door, she was greeted first with a blast of painfully bright sunshine, then as her eyes adjusted, a completely unimpressed Jesse. He raised his eyebrows at her, taking in her dishevelled, unkempt appearance.

"First sunlight in days, I'm sure." He cocked his head her, waiting for some kind of response.

"Are you going to invite me in, or…?" Rolling her eyes at him, she stepped aside to let him in, noting his partial shock at the contrast between Kimmy Jin's immaculate side of the room and her "bomb-disaster zone" side.

"Oh, this is bleak." He turned to face Beca who laughed out loud at the disgusted and appalled facial expression. With a jolt, she realised that it was the first time she'd laughed, or even smiled since the Chloe incident. Jesse seemed to pick up on this, his face morphing to concern, and his voice softening.

"Hey, what happened?" He sat slowly down, not taking his eyes off of Beca. She shook her head.

"Nothing, nothing… it's nothing." She smiled, trying to appease him, it looked more like a grimace. Unconvinced, Jesse asked again.

"Tell me, Beca. Please?"

She understood and appreciated his concern but there was no way she could tell him. She was still convinced he was in love with her, and she didn't want to lose his friendship completely by revealing what had happened. And, on top of that, she wasn't ready to admit it out loud. Not that she'd had sex with a girl, but that she'd let her stupid infatuation and feelings take over her in a moment of weakness and vulnerability. Remembering her heated words with her father earlier that morning, she made up a lie to satisfy Jesse.

"It's stupid really." She laughed hollowly. "I just had a fight with my dad, it doesn't matter."

"Wanna talk about it?" He seemed genuinely concerned, and this would have been comforting to Beca if she didn't already feel guilty for lying to him. Trying to distract him, she changed track.

"Not really. Hey, did you, uh, want to watch a movie or something?" Jesse wasn't stupid, he'd heard loud and clear her distaste for movies, and he knew about her regular arguments with her father. So her offer told him what he needed to know - something much more significant had happened. Despite his burning urge to find out and comfort her, he took the bait, smiling half-heartedly at her.

"Sure. Do you have any?"

"What kind of person do you think I am?" She laughed, and he had to as well. Albeit temporarily, "his" Beca was back.

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Bellas rehearsals were well under way for the season, and the group could already feel the rising tension between Beca and Chloe. They saw Beca's resistance to Chloe's attempt at instruction (in her defence Chloe was pressed right up against her, and it was making her uncomfortable…. down there), they saw Beca blatantly check out Chloe's ass while they were running up and down the bleachers, they saw each other staring at each other while the other wasn't looking, only to blush furiously and try to cover it up when they were caught. But the two girls hadn't spoken a word to each other since the aca-initiation party, and that was what confused the rest of the Bellas. They all knew that the two girls had had sex - it doesn't take a genius to figure out what happens after two drunk college girls escape from a game of spin the bottle - but the ensuing awkwardness was the kicker. Why couldn't they just get over it? College girls experimented with friends - it was practically a rite of passage - but these two seemed to miss the memo.

On the other hand, Aubrey was not confused. As Chloe's roommate/best friend/pseudo-therapist, she knew all about the cause of Chloe's distress, and it only fuelled her anger towards Beca. The alt girl had annoyed her from the start, with her cocky attitude and terrible fashion sense, but the knowledge that the girl had hurt her friend and refused to own up to it really pushed her over the edge. She was on Beca's back at every rehearsal, criticising her for every minor mistake. She almost felt bad for it, but then she'd she the equal parts hurt and love struck looks her friend was sending the girl and her fuel was renewed. She was over-protective, yes, but she'd seen Chloe get hurt by one too many stupid frat guys that she wasn't going to take that risk again.

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The Bella's first public performance had finally rolled around, and everyone knew that they weren't ready yet. The choreography was off, the timing was off, the singing was off, and the fraternity they were performing at were less than impressed, booting them off the stage before they really had time to get started.

Aubrey was furious. Realistically, she knew they weren't ready, that they hadn't had enough time, but the rash part of her brain was looking for someone to blame. She wanted to build the reputation of the Bellas back up, and to clean her own state, and that mediocre performance wasn't going to do anything for it. Rounding on the person that was closest to her, she started firing off.

"I hope you all feel terrible! I hope you never want to feel that again! You all need to make notes on what you did wrong so that it never happens again. And Chloe, what's wrong with you? Your voice didn't sound Aguilerean at all!" Chloe turned to face her, eyes red rimmed and tears in her eyes, biting her lip to keep them from falling. Aubrey's breath caught in her throat, she hadn't meant that in a spiteful way.

"Chloe, what's wrong?" The ginger girl took a deep breath, turning to face the rest of the group. It was now or never.

"I have nodes." Gasps came from the group, the loudest from Aubrey, who immediately felt the pain of the girl as if it were her own. The only person who looked less than sympathetic was Beca. Aubrey felt anger sweep through her body before Beca spoke.

"What are nodes?" Confusion, then. Minorly less pissed off then before, Aubrey spoke before Chloe had the chance too, willing her to rest her voice whenever possible.

"Vocal nodules. Rubbing of the vocal chords at high rates without proper lubrication causes them to form. They sit on your windpipe and crush your dreams." If Beca was put off by the melodramatic description, she didn't show it, instead concern laced her features.

"Doesn't that hurt?" She looked now to Chloe, making direct contact with her for what felt like years. The rest of the Bellas were not immune to this, eager for the tension between the two girls to disappear. Chloe choked up, and couldn't speak, so sufficed to just nod her head.

"Then why do you still do it?" Chloe cleared her throat to speak this time.

"Because I love to sing." That was all the answer she gave. Sensing her wish to move on from the subject, Aubrey hastily moved to outlining the Bellas new and intensive practice session, to the groans and sighs of the girls. She would speak to Chloe later.

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The next time Beca saw Chloe was the next day, which was a lot (okay not that much) sooner than she expected or anticipated. In fairness, she was on her way to go find the ginger girl, so she should have been prepared for the way that her breath caught and she lost the capacity for English upon laying eyes on Chloe.

She was just leaving the station when it happened. Jesse had been bugging her about how her mood had been lately, and Luke had gotten so annoyed by the constant "toddler-behaviour", as he called it, that he'd told them to shut up and work or go home. Jesse had stayed. She'd left. Sure she wouldn't get paid for that move, but she figured Jesse was right and that she needed to sort herself out, talk to Chloe about it. It was such a spontaneous decision that she really didn't have time to prepare herself for what happened next.

Swinging the door of the station open and stepping out, she literally collided with a person and they went tumbling down to the ground in a mess of limbs. Muttering hasty apologies and starting to push herself up and off of the other person, she looked down at the person below her, shock and recognition stunning her into place for a second before memories of the last time they were in this position flooded her brain and she hastily stood up. Avoiding Chloe's eyes, she sheepishly offered a hand to the other girl, who was equally stunned by the situation she found herself in. Taking it, and lifting herself up, a pseudo-awkward silence fell between the two, before being interrupted by the two attempting to speak at once.

"I cam-"

"Sorry-"

"You go-"

"You firs-"

"Stop. You go first." Chloe smiled invitingly at Beca.

Beca took a deep breath before speaking again. "Look… I just wanted to say I'm sorry. For everything. I shouldn't have left, I shouldn't have avoided you, it was immature of me and I'm really sorry. There." Smiling at her, Chloe replied.

"It's ok. It's not your fault. I made you uncomfortable, I understand that. I should have spoken to you, instead of making it awkward between us. I jeopardised our chance at friendship, and I really regret that. I guess I just had a lot going on in my life."

Beca smiled sadly. At least she knew now that Chloe didn't return her feelings, however terrible that made her feel. "You sure did. Umm.. how's your throat?"

"It's fine thank you for asking. I'm really sorry, again. Friends?" Chloe smiled hopefully at the shorter girl. Why it meant so much to her she didn't understand, but she really needed Beca's friendship.

"You sure it won't be awkward." Beca teased, albeit half-heartedly.

"We won't let it be."

"Then, sure." Silence feel between the two girls, neither sure what to say next. Beca finally spoke again.

"Is that all you came here for?" Suddenly remembering her other reason for visiting, Chloe smiled.

"No. As you may or may not be aware of, today is Aubrey's birthday. And we - the Bellas -" she added at Beca's confused facial expression. "are taking her out to celebrate and loosen up."

Beca smirked. "Aubrey? Loosen up? I think you're talking about someone else."

Chloe smacked Beca playfully. "Oh, shush, you. We're going to that bar, Sapphire's. I'll send you the address. 9 o'clock. Be there. I know she'll appreciate it."

Beca rolled her eyes at the ginger girl. "I don't think Aubrey appreciates anything I do. And Chloe?"

"Yes?"

"I'm nineteen." She said like it was the plainest thing in the world. Chloe looked at her confused, so she elaborated. "I'm not exactly legal…"

Eyes widening, Chloe composed her face into Beca's trademark smirk.

"What, and you don't have a fake ID?"

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

It was a karaoke bar. Of course. Why Beca was surprised, she'd never know. And like any karaoke bar, the quality of performance was well, well below par. The highlight of Beca's alcohol fuelled night was Amy's fully choreographed, fully rapped performance of Salt 'n' Pepa's "Shoop". Everything else was , well, abysmal.

Standing solitary by the bar, Beca looked out across the crowd, searching for familiar faces. She spotted Cynthia-Rose shameless grinding on a very drunk Stacie while another very drunk patron attempted to sing Snoop Dogg's "Wet". The sight was somewhat humorous, somewhat disturbing, and Beca quickly averted her eyes. A relatively reserved (but completely loose by her own standard) Aubrey was dancing with some guy who was lecherously running his eyes (and hands) down her body. Everyone else seemed to be having a good, comparatively PG-13 time, sitting or dancing in groups around the room. The only person she couldn't spot was Chloe.

The redhead had danced with a whole bunch of people over the night, moving away to snag a new partner whenever things got less than friendly. Beca, on the other hand, had been a wallflower all night, refusing all offers to dance and keeping a watchful eye on the Bellas.

Turning back to the bar, she ordered herself another drink, her who-knows-which-number of the night. She wasn't a usually a heavy drinker, but watching Chloe all night had put her on edge. The bartender returned with her drink, warning her helpfully to slow down, being a small person her ability to hold alcohol would likely be compromised very soon.

Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she turned to see a bright-eyed, red-faced Chloe looking at her expectantly. She looked at her confusedly until Chloe shouted over the music.

"I SAID, 'COME SING WITH ME'!" Blanching, Beca shook her head no, taking a large gulp of her drink and revelling in the burn as it travelled down her throat.

"NUH-UH. NO WAY."

"PLEEEEAAAAAASSSSE?" Chloe pouted adorably, activating full strength puppy eyes. Beca could feel her resolve crumbling even as she tried to look away from Chloe. Looking woefully at her drink, she reluctantly threw it down her throat in one and turned back to the redhead.

"FINE. BUT JUST ONE SONG." Chloe face lit up like Christmas, taking Bella's hand and dragging her away to the stage where another wannabe crooner was finishing up her painfully flat rendition of "Hopelessly Devoted to You". Chloe helped her up on the stage as the assistant handed them mics, wishing them luck and requesting them to be kinder than previous participants.

"Do you wanna pick the song?" Chloe asked her.

"No, you can." Beca offered. Chloe's eyes lit up, and she smirked, going over to the machine to pick a song. Beca paled, suddenly afraid of what she had been tricked into. However, she laughed as the opening notes from "Titanium" filtered through the speakers. Chloe smiled innocently at Beca as she took the first verse. The crowd below immediately went nuts as Chloe's voice, a pleasant change from the tone deaf racket that had come before, hit the first lyrics.

"_You shout it out, but I can't hear a word you say..._

_I'm talking loud, not saying much..."_

Chloe walked slowly over to Beca as she sang, serenading her with a decidedly non-romantic song.

"_I'm criticized, but all your bullets ricochet..._

_Shoot me down, but I get up..."_

Smirking, Beca decided to turn the tables on Chloe, and as she approached the chorus quickly brainstormed. As she hit the chorus, Beca came in as well, shocking the audience as well as Chloe as she wove another song in around the song.

"_I'm bullet proof, nothing to lose _**(Baby, you light up my world like nobody else)**

_Fire away, fire away _**(The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed)**

_Ricochet, you take your aim _**(But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell)**

_Fire away, fire away _**(You don't know, you don't know you're beautiful)**

_You shoot me down, but I won't fall _**(If only you saw what I could see)**

_I am titanium _**(You'd understand why I want you so desperately)**

_Shoot me down, but I won't fall _**(Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe)**

_I am titanium _**(You don't know, you don't know you're beautiful)**

The crowd roared as the two girls reached the end of the chorus egging them on. Chlow looked impressed at Beca and gestured for her to take the next verse. Smiling, Beca jumped in with yet another song while Titanium pulsed in the background.

"**Jumped to my hoopty hoopty hoop,**

**I own that**

**And I ain't paid my rent this month,**

**I owe that.**

**But fuck who you want, and fuck who you like**

**Dance hall life there's no end in sight **_(Twinkle twinkle little star)_

**Now errybody let me hear you say Ray, Ray, Ray**

**And spend all your money cuz today pay day**

**And if you a G, you a G, G, G,**

**My name is Onika, you can call me Nicki."**

There wasn't a single person in the club who wasn't up an dancing at this point, and the two girls fed off their collective energy as they jumped into the second chorus.

"_I'm bullet proof, nothing to lose _**(Baby, you light up my world like nobody else)**

_Fire away, fire away _**(The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed)**

_Ricochet, you take your aim _**(But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell)**

_Fire away, fire away _**(You don't know, you don't know you're beautiful)**

_You shoot me down, but I won't fall _**(If only you saw what I could see)**

_I am titanium _**(You'd understand why I want you so desperately)**

_Shoot me down, but I won't fall _**(Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe)**

_I am titanium _**(You don't know, you don't know you're beautiful)"**

For the first time in the song, they sang together, in harmony, on the bridge. They were now standing close together and facing each other, driven by the energy and movement of their performance. Beca could feel her feelings and attraction coming to the surface as she raked her eyes over the redheads body, feeling their chemistry in the air.

"_**Stone hard, machine gun,**_

_**fired at the ones who run.**_

_**Stone hard as bulletproof glass!"**_

Reaching the last chorus, Beca boldy took hold of Chloe's hand as she faced the audience, belting like her life depended on it.

"_I'm bullet proof, nothing to lose _**(Baby, you light up my world like nobody else)**

_Fire away, fire away _**(The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed)**

_Ricochet, you take your aim _**(But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell)**

_Fire away, fire away _**(You don't know, you don't know you're beautiful)**

_You shoot me down, but I won't fall _**(If only you saw what I could see)**

_I am titanium _**(You'd understand why I want you so desperately)**

_Shoot me down, but I won't fall _**(Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe)**

_I am titanium _**(You don't know, you don't know you're beautiful)**

_**That's what makes you beautiful."**_

The two girls finished in unison as the crowd below roared, perhaps a first for the night. Beca smiled at them and looked at Chloe. What she saw sent her mind to the gutter, and the energy and heat in her body straight to her centre. Chloe stood, cheeks flushed and out of breath, pupils blown with arousal, unashamedly looking over Beca's body and undressing her with her mind. Beca gulped nervously. She didn't know what this meant. But she knew what she wanted it to mean, and with that in mind, she grasped firmer onto the taller girls hand as she led them off the stage and through the crowd, ignoring the screams for an encore and the congratulatory words of their friends. Finding what she was searching for, she pushed open the door to the bathrooms and dragged Chloe inside the cubicle and locking the door. She didn't care who heard them or saw them enter – right now she wanted, no, _needed, _Chloe's body against hers.

On Chloe's side, she wasted no time, latching her lips to Beca's neck as the younger girl moaned and ran her hands over the redhead's body. This caused a low, guttural moan to slip out of her mouth as she continued to attack the shorter girl's neck, determined to mark her in some way. Beca's hands slipped under her t-shirt eagerly exploring her body again, slowly travelling north until they came into contact with Chloe's breasts. Beca moaned loudly as she came into contact with the braless, bare skin. Chloe removed her lips from Beca's neck to latch them onto the shorter girl's lips, revelling in the sweet, addictive taste, albeit dampened by alcohol. She ran her hands down Beca's back, to her ass, where she picked her up, and shoved her against the cubicle wall. Beca gasped, lips temporarily unattaching before hungrily reconnecting them.

The fire in her centre grew quickly unbearable, and unable to stand the relatively harmless actions now, placed Beca down and onto the toilet lid, undoing the brunette's jeans with one hand, and clumsily groping her breasts with the other. Pulling jeans and panties off in one go, she dropped to her knees, taking her lips from Beca's and attaching them to the yonuger girl's throbbing clit. Flicking her tongue over the bud, she felt Beca's legs wrap around her head and force more contact to her soaked centre. Moving one hand up, she straight away thrust two fingers inside her, causing Beca to cry out in pleasure. It wasn't long before Beca came tumbling over the peak into orgasm, bucking her hips wildly as Chloe continued to suck and lick. Temporarily wasted, she pulled Chloe's face up to hers, and kissed her sloppily, tasting herself on the ginger's tongue.

"Now." She managed to get out. "I think the crowd was saying something about an encore?"

Chloe smirked wickedly as she eagerly reattached their lips, allowing herself to enjoy without thought of ramifications the relationship she could have with the other girl.

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Thoughts? Please review.

I'll try not to leave so long between uploads next time.

Xx :)


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